Movement Against Intolerance

GERMANY’S MUSLIMS WARY AFTER HEADSCARF MARTYR TRIAL November 25, 2009

16/11/2009- Dozens of reporters from Germany, Egypt and other Muslim countries packed into a Dresden courtroom last week to hear the verdict against the Russian émigré accused of stabbing to death a pregnant Egyptian woman who’s since been dubbed the “headscarf martyr” by much of the Arab world. It was a far cry from the attention the killing itself received in July — the crime was scarcely reported by the German media, leading to massive protests in Egypt and the Middle East. That Alex Wiens was convicted of murdering Marwa el-Sherbini and sentenced to life in prison was not surprising — el-Sherbini was stabbed in front of numerous eyewitnesses in a dramatic attack just after she finished giving testimony in the same Dresden courthouse where Wiens was tried. His trial seemed a mere formality. It was nonetheless closely watched by Germany’s 4 million Muslims, as well as the wider Muslim world, as a way of gauging how serious Germany was about confronting what Muslims see as a rising tide of Islamophobia and racism in the country. The crime was shocking as much for Wiens’ brutality as for his brazenness. During the trial, prosecutors said el-Sherbini, 31, was attacked after giving testimony against Wiens in a defamation case — el-Sherbini had accused Wiens of calling her an “Islamist” and a “terrorist” on a playground after she asked him to make way so her son could play on the swings. As she finished testifying, Wiens suddenly lunged at her with a kitchen knife he had smuggled into court and stabbed her 16 times. Her husband, Elwy Okaz, 32, was also repeatedly stabbed before being shot by a police officer who mistook him for el-Sherbini’s attacker. El-Sherbini, who was three months pregnant at the time, bled to death in front of the couple’s 3-year-old son.

Not only was the crime barely reported by the German media, but German politicians were accused of deflecting questions about it in order to avoid having to discuss the problem of the rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. Kenan Kolat, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany organization, says the verdict no longer makes that possible. “Islamophobia exists in Germany and we have to get to grips with it before it’s too late,” Kolat warns. “Politicians shouldn’t stigmatize Muslims.” Other Muslims were also pleased by the verdict. “I think getting the maximum possible sentence says a lot. … It means the family can feel justice has been done,” said Egypt’s ambassador to Germany, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy. The Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram, meanwhile, quoted an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hossam Zaki, as saying that the sentence could deter other racially motivated attacks in Germany and would strengthen Egyptian-German relations. But not everyone is as positive about the impact of the conviction. The victim’s brother, Tarek el-Sherbini, said that because of German laws, Wiens could in theory be released after 15 years. “In Egypt, a life-long sentence means life,” he told the daily Bild paper. (Due to the brutal nature of the crime, the judge said that Wiens had little chance of early release.) And Kolat disagrees with the assumption that the verdict will help deter future attacks on Muslims. Some believe the trial may have actually made them more vulnerable. “Muslim women who wear a headscarf in Germany still run the risk of being attacked,” Kolat tells TIME.